


Of Playing Dumb and Poking Bruises

by SabbyStarlight



Series: Cold Open Challenge 2020! [6]
Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Cold Open Challenge, Episode: s02e16 Hammock + Balcony, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Mild Hurt Jack, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-12
Updated: 2020-07-12
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:20:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25213807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SabbyStarlight/pseuds/SabbyStarlight
Summary: Day six of the Cold Open Challenge2x16 Hammock+BalconyThis one is basically just an excuse to remind people that Jack is smart and competent and does the, admittedly sometimes dumb, things he does to keep Mac safe and out of the whirlwind that is his own mind.
Series: Cold Open Challenge 2020! [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1818619
Comments: 6
Kudos: 47





	Of Playing Dumb and Poking Bruises

**Author's Note:**

> Pretty sure you can tell this is the point in the week when the deadline for having these fics posted started to catch up with me, but as of a few hours ago I was at work and this doc was mostly empty. So we're gonna count this one as a win and call it good enough. 

"Shirt off," Mac instructed as soon as the plane was in the air. 

"Pretty sure you're supposed to at least buy me dinner first," Jack teased, rolling his eyes at how overprotective Mac tended to get when he was hurt and Mac was the one left looking him over. He knew that those habits had been learned from his own need to make sure his partner was safe, though it didn't stop him from hesitating, fingers frozen on the hem of his shirt. 

"And I was pretty sure you knew to send the drive through the passageway we had carved out of that damn wall first, before trying to crawl through," Mac argued. "Instead of leaving it in your pocket. Shirt off." 

A shower of dust rained down from the shirt when he pulled it over his head and Jack sputtered, hoping to draw Mac's attention away from an actual injury as he coughed, rubbing at his brown eyes and blinking dramatically. 

"That was super smart," Mac rolled his eyes, reaching out and brushing dust out of Jack's hair before more of it had a chance to fall into his face. 

"You're the one who wanted me to strip," Jack protested with a grin. "This is one of those times I'm wishin' these fancy jets Phoenix shells out the big bucks for came with a shower or something. I'm gonna be sneezing this stuff out for the next week."

"That's the least of our problems," Mac sighed, catching his first look at the bruises on his partner's chest. "I can't believe you didn't think to take the drive out of your pocket first." 

Admitting that it wasn't a matter of him not thinking about it, just that he hadn't wanted to waste the time to do it, would only upset Mac, so Jack kept his mouth closed on the subject. His only priority, as on every job, had been Mac's safety. Mac had scampered through the nondescript hole as soon as they found their way back to it without giving Jack a chance to clear the hallway on the other side of any threats. He wasn't going to risk taking the time to hand the drive over, leaving only an unarmed partner and whatever threats had lurked on the other side, so he put the risk on himself instead, making sure his hands were free to take out any of the armed guards that could be waiting and crawled through, hoping the wall would crumble enough around to allow him and the drive to safely make it to the other side without incident. It hadn't. 

"Hey, now, you got me out," Jack assured, knowing Mac's anger wasn't at him, not really, but it could have very easily ended as a plane ride home alone if he hadn't figured out a solution. "And we're fine. Mission accomplished, just like always." 

Mac winced as Jack tossed his crumpled shirt in the empty seat beside him and the line of bruises on each side of his chest, wrapping around his upper ribs and behind him, out of sight, came into view. "You made it out, just not without the battle wounds to prove it." 

"These?" Jack shrugged the brightly colored bands of inflamed skin off as if they were nothing. "Give me a day or two and you won't even be able to tell they're there." 

"Lean forward," Mac instructed with a hand on the back of Jack's neck. "Let me see how bad it is on your back." 

"A little sore," Jack admitted. He had learned the hard way that trying to brush off an injury Mac was destined to discover anyway only lead to more arguments. It was easier to let him see for himself, especially on the ones that there wasn't much he could do to fix it, than to try and hide things. 

"Yeah, I'd say that's an understatement," Jack could hear the frown weighing heavy on Mac's words as careful fingers traced the bruises wrapping just below his shoulder blades. 

"Not even the worst thing we've dealt with this month," Jack assured, sitting back up and blocking Mac's view. The longer the younger man sat and stared at it, the worse he was going to feel and Jack couldn't have that. "No big deal." 

"How's the shoulder?" Mac continued, shifting his focus away from the visible injuries and on to ones he couldn't see. Those ones, the ones that Jack could hide, he had a tendency not to bring up and his trick shoulder was one of the ones he liked to try and get to fly below the radar and take care of himself without Mac ever knowing it was hurt to begin with. 

"Fine," Jack rolled the joint in question to prove his point, biting the inside of his cheeks to keep a grimace from revealing the discomfort the movement caused. It wasn't bad enough to warrant Mac's concern. "Not out of place or anything, if that's what you're thinkin'." 

"Then we got lucky," Mac breathed a sigh of relief, reaching over to prod and check for himself. "The position of these bruises, it would have been easy to pop it out with the force of that wire. "Does this hurt?”

“You poking at my bruises? Doesn’t feel all that great now that you mention it.” Jack snarked, swiping Mac's hand away. "I'm fine, dude. Chill out."

"That one was close, Jack," Mac sighed, crossing the few quick steps to the other side of the plane and grabbing the first aid kit. He dug through it, sealed wrappers crinkling as he pushed them aside until he found an ice pack. Snapping it as he returned to Jack's side, Jack held out a hand expectantly, watching as the blue goo hardened and turned cold before pressing it against his shoulder. "That little magic show never fails to impress," He began, settling back in his seat and waiting on the lecture he knew was coming. 

"It's not a magic show," Mac answered automatically, just as Jack had known he would, talking as he repacked the medical kit and put it back in its rightful place, ready for the next time they would need it. "It's a controlled endothermic reaction of water and ammonium nitrate that's activated when you break the seal between the two." 

"Right, right," Jack nodded. "Of course." It was an argument he had heard many times, hell, one he had started many times when he needed to get Mac out of his own spiraling thoughts and focused on something else and there was a conveniently placed ice pack in sight. It was getting a little predictable though, he was coming up on Mac calling him out on not understanding what really was basic science, and he wasn't sure how many more times he could get away with offering that particular moment of playing dumb as a distraction before Mac caught on to what he was doing. He was in need of some new material before the next time one of them got hurt. 

"You sure you're okay?" Mac asked, dropping into the seat across from Jack, eyes scanning for any more injuries, trailing down his arms to his hands where they had gripped the wire, holding tight as Mac had pulled him free.

"I'm good, hoss," Jack assured, holding his hands out, palms up, as proof. "You got me out, I'm fine." 

"You almost weren't." 

"If we go worryin' and gettin' in our heads over every close call, we're gonna be spending all our time chattin' with that therapist Matty's always houndin' on us to go to instead of being out here in the field, saving the world." Jack pointed out with a wry smile. 

"Well, if you're allowed to go crazy overprotective every time I get a paper cut," Mac pointed out. "I'm allowed to make sure you're not actually hurt after a close call." 

"Yeah, yeah, alright," Jack agreed, grabbing his wrinkled, dusty shirt off the seat next to him and considering it for a moment before deciding against putting it back on, settling back in his seat to ride out the rest of the flight and balancing the ice pack on his shoulder. "I still withhold the right to do that, by the way. Be all overprotective. You come, first kid. Always have, always will. At least in my book."

**Author's Note:**

> And just as Jack withholds the right to be overprotective, I withhold the right to go back and edit this one day when I'm actually more awake than I am asleep. 


End file.
